


A Story Worth Telling

by dearfriendicanfly



Category: The Lord of the Rings (Movies), The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, all i can say is revisiting lotr in 2020 after almost ten years made me cry so hard it hurt, man idk what to tag this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:34:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28439937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dearfriendicanfly/pseuds/dearfriendicanfly
Summary: And so no one will quite understand the sting of a Morgul blade, or the weight of the Ring, or what it's like to entirely lose oneself to some shapeless and senseless darkness that feels like it must have been at one’s heels their whole life. Frodo jokes about telling the children that Sam fought off the Nazgûl with nothing but an old skillet, and does not say aloud that he wonders if any of this will mean anything to the children at all.Some thoughts on love, survival, and the stories we tell.
Relationships: Frodo Baggins/Sam Gamgee
Comments: 8
Kudos: 34





	A Story Worth Telling

_ Samwise the Brave, _ Frodo thinks. The name fits Sam as if the word “brave” was conceived just for him. Samwise, who charges at enemies with nothing but a frying pan and righteous anger. Samwise, who smiles and jokes and talks of green grass and gardens and freshly picked strawberries even when there’s nothing but wasteland as far as Frodo’s eyes can see. Samwise, the little hobbit with a heart that stands ten feet taller than the rest of him. Taller than anyone else in the whole world. 

They joke at times about ways they might embellish their tales for the children when they get back home, as Bilbo has most certainly done since they were even smaller than they are now. Frodo’s uncle would change up his stories every time he told them, and even so, he and little Sam would listen. Hold every different version of Bilbo’s tales close and wonder if the truth was even more magnificent.

Now, as Frodo nurses his aching wound, he knows differently. He remembers the way that Bilbo seemed to grow restless when trying to find words to describe the horrible excess of Smaug and his hoard. He remembers the way Bilbo would be caught off guard by his own sadness at the mere thought of old friends he had buried. He remembers sleepless nights when Bilbo would set off on long walks and only look older and more tired when he returned. 

He remembers one night when Bilbo passed on the last words of Thorin Oakenshield to him:  _ If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world. _ And Frodo tried, then, to understand what Bilbo meant by this, what  _ Thorin _ had meant by this, but he couldn’t. And so Bilbo clutched his head and sobbed such a sob as Frodo had never heard before and would never hear again until he saw his uncle once more at Rivendell, and Bilbo clung to Frodo’s hand and begged for his forgiveness.  _ I’m sorry that you must carry this burden. I’m sorry for everything. _

Frodo thinks now that he understands that the truth is impossible to tell. One cannot understand it unless they were there. And by the time one understands it, it will be too late for the story to mean anything.

And so no one will quite understand the sting of a Morgul blade, or the weight of the Ring, or what it's like to entirely lose oneself to some shapeless and senseless darkness that feels like it must have been at one’s heels their whole life. Frodo jokes about telling the children that Sam fought off the Nazgûl with nothing but an old skillet, and does not say aloud that he wonders if any of this will mean anything to the children at all. Perhaps he should hope that it doesn’t, and that they’ll never have to know how to face such things because there will be no more evil to face. Perhaps then, Frodo can think that there’s something worthy about the pain that strikes deep at the heart of him and makes him feel like something even less than a little hobbit. 

_ Frodo the Small, _ they might call him. A weak little fool who was simply in the wrong place at the right time. Utterly insignificant in the scheme of things, and completely impossible to make sense of. His neighbors will write him off as a crackpot and a troublemaker, just as they did Bilbo.  _ That’s what comes of thinking yourself too big for your britches and going on adventures, _ they’ll say.  _ Best to keep your nose out of where it don’t belong. _ And they will act like they understand and know better, and Frodo will be too tired to try to change their minds. He’ll pray that they never truly understand.

Even Sam will never truly know. He’ll never know the weight of this  _ thing _ around Frodo’s neck, how it feels to be beholden to it. He’ll never hear the terrible things it promises to Frodo in the dark and lonely night when anger threatens to overtake him and he wishes that the whole of Middle Earth would just burn up and die for what it’s put him through. He’ll never know the  _ shame _ when Frodo wakes and remembers what little is left of himself, finds some shred of kindness in his heart, battered and abused and dying.

And yet, Sam is kind enough for them both. He nurses Frodo’s body and heart without complaint. Sam does not need to understand in order to love. He does not need to be big in order to have courage. He simply is what he is. Samwise the Brave. A humble gardener. The most important person in all of Middle Earth.

Sam sings songs and makes up poems to make the journey pass more cheerfully. When Frodo’s strength fails him, Sam offers him a sturdy arm. When Frodo’s wound stings, Sam rubs his shoulder and holds his hand until the pain passes. He normally saves his crying for the night when he thinks Frodo cannot hear him, so that he can be brave when morning breaks. But when Frodo cannot cry, Sam takes Frodo's sadness as his own and weeps such tenderhearted tears. Understanding tears.

On sleepless nights, he runs his fingers through Frodo’s hair and soothes him with hands that are rough from all his years of raising the gentlest and most fragile of lives from the dirt.

“It’s going to be all right, Mr. Frodo,” Sam says, and miraculously, Frodo believes him.

_ These are the truths worth saying even when no one understands them, _ Frodo thinks, lying in Sam’s arms in the dark.  _ These are the stories worth telling. The tales of Samwise the Brave, whose hands were made to uplift. _

**Author's Note:**

> this is super short and maybe i'll actually try and write something substantial another time but I'm still working on other things rn so.... for now I will just cry over these little dudes just loving each other so freaking much. 
> 
> 2020 has been absolute shit but I was lucky to have a lot of people helping carry me to the finish line, and I think that's why these movies are hitting so hard right now. to everybody who's been there for me, thank you <3


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